The king in a tall hat stands still and looks down at the messenger.
Bible in art · 2 Samuel
David Hearing the News of Uriah’s Death
Rembrandt · c. 1650
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
A pen drawing with brown wash of about 1650; Rembrandt softened parts of it by rubbing the wet ink with his finger.
The king stands and listens, still and upright, while a messenger in armour bows on one knee and reports from the battle. An old man watches at the right. The empty chair at the left makes the hall seem large and quiet.
From the text
- The messenger reporting to David all that Joab sent him to say (2 Samuel 11:22)
- “Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead as well” (2 Samuel 11:24)
The artist’s own
- The messenger in armour of Rembrandt’s own day
- An old courtier watching, and an empty chair
Details
David
The messenger
A soldier in armour, his sword at his side, bows on one knee.
Looking on
An old bearded man stands by the curtain.
Empty chair
A chair stands empty at the side of the hall.
Rembrandt van Rijn, Dutch, 1606–1669. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam (Gift of C. Hofstede de Groot, The Hague; RP-T-1930-10) · Pen and brown ink, with brown wash and opaque white, some areas deliberately rubbed with a finger or wet brush · Image: "Public Domain" (https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/); object metadata: CC0 1.0 (https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) — Rijksmuseum Linked Art record.